Just a Dream?

Chapter One

2008 

          She woke up from a dream. She was five so she really didn't really know the meaning of it. Just that it freaked her out. Even though it wasn't uncommon for her to have nightmares, she wasn't going to tell anyone about this particular nightmare. Some gut feeling told her not to. 

A Few Months Later

          A few months after the dream, she was at her dad's house for the summer and a lot of people noticed that she seemed a lot happier when visiting with her dad rather than whenever in her mother and step-father's company. One day in particular, she and her step-sisters had gotten back from the park covered in sand. Actually, she was the only one covered in sand. 

"C'mon Raelynn. Let's get you cleaned up. Alex, being the oldest at 15, always took up the responsibility of taking care of Raelynn when their parents weren't home. She started to lead Raelynn up the stairs while the little girl rambled on about being a "sand monster". Once the two of them reached Sam's bathroom (Raelynn usually stayed in her room since they were the closest in age), Alex went to go turn the water on while Raelynn stripped out of her clothes, trying not to get too much sand on the floor of the bathroom. Alex grabbed a washcloth from the linen closet to wipe Raelynn off with since she refused to take showers, saying that "it was too grown up". Once Raelynn stepped into the bathtub, Alex started to wipe the sand off of Raelynn's neck, shoulders, and arms. She quickly finished wiping down Raelynn's front and told her to turn around so that she could clean her back. That's when she found the bruise. She didn't even see it at first. She was wiping the last of the sand off of Raelynn's neck when the younger girl cried out in pain.

"What's wrong?" Alex asked, worried that Raelynn was seriously hurt. 

"That one hurts. Don't touch it." Raelynn replied shortly and quietly, two things she never is. Not wanting to cause her anymore pain, Alex looks closely at the dark bruise without touching it. She continues cleaning Raelynn and when she was just wiping the last bits of sand off of her back, Raelynn cries out again.

"Don't touch that one either! It hurts too!" she cried.

"Okay I won't touch it. I'm sorry I didn't see it." Alex replied while inspecting the bruise at the small of her back shaped almost like a thumbprint.

"C'mon, let's get you dried off and dressed kiddo." Alex says as she grabs Raelynn's specific princess towel off the rack. As Raelynn was drying off, and Alex was getting some new clothes for Raelynn, she asked the question that could result in many different responses from the five year old. 

"Hey Raelynn. Where'd you get those bruises?" Raelynn stopped her quiet humming. She could almost feel her invisible walls building around her. Finally, the now silent girl let out a mumbled answer. Alex almost didn't hear her. 

"I fell at Mommy's house." Alex could tell that Raelynn wasn't telling the truth but wasn't going to push her on it. Alex was already planning on telling Raelynn's dad when he got home from work. Alex was brought out of her thoughts when Raelynn asked if she could go downstairs. 

"Yeah go ahead." She started humming on her way down the stairs. She's so happy here.